The Private Messaging (PM) feature on Ballet Talk for Dancers was recently disabled after uncovering abuses of this privilege by some of our members. The feature was disabled to allow time for our moderating team to discuss the problem and look at possible solutions. The main concern brought to our attention is that adult members (parents, teachers, adult students, etc.) have been contacting teen members for various reasons (i.e. giving advice based upon questions they've raised on Young Dancers, engaging in conversation that could be considered sensitive, asking teens for direct information about SI or residency programs and teachers they have been affiliated with and generally making them uncomfortable with the requests, etc.)

Ballet Talk for Dancers has always been very serious about protecting all of our members. However, we try to take special care of our teen members. There are a number of reasons the board, as its own entity, does not like the PM system in general. Our main concern is that this is a discussion forum and not a social networking site. In contrast, there are also reasons why each moderator as a dance parent, teacher or medical professional may see individual benefits to the PM tool. It has been a difficult discussion for us because there is valuable information that is positively gained by having the PM system in place. The question is, does the positive outweigh the negative? At this point, we are unsure about the balance between the contrasting sides of this question.

The result of the discussion among Administrators and Moderators is that we will not remove the PM system at this time; that is not our desire. But if there are further issues with adults writing to teens via PMs, we will permanently disable the system without further notice and block any offending members from general board participation.

It is our belief at Ballet Talk for Dancers that there is no reason for an adult member to contact our teens for any reason through PM. We expect that going forward, our adult members will understand this position and comply. If you cannot answer a teen on the board publicly, then you do not need to answer them at all.

In order to facilitate understanding let's review the purposes of the forums frequented by Teens:

* Young Dancers forums is for teens to be able to ask questions of the teacher/moderators in a nurturing environment. Our teacher/moderators come from professional backgrounds in ballet, although each comes from a different perspective.

* Teen Buddy board allows teens to interact with each other with minimal interference.

* Pointe Shoe Forum allows teens to ask questions of our Professional Pointe Shoe Fitters and mainly to receive advice from them. We do acknowledge that we have allowed our general membership to post on the Pointe Shoe forum. However, responses should be adult to adult if through PM or not at all. Responses to teens should be on the forum.

* Cross Talk provides a venue for all of our members to ask questions and discuss with each other. This includes teens who may want to hear from teachers who are not moderators or from other members, including adults. If you have an offshoot post from a teen question that you think is worthy of full board discussion, you are welcome to start a discussion on Cross Talk to share your experiences publicly. We will also remind our teens that when they want to hear from people other than teens and moderators, they can use Cross Talk as well.

If you have any questions or comments, you may send them directly to me using Contact Us or you may contact a moderator and discuss it with them. We will not discuss this further publicly on the board because again, the protection of our teen members is paramount and that is not open for discussion.

If you have a response to a teen that is just too sensitive to post publicly, then you should send that message to a moderator/administrator to see if it can and should be passed along. We will also be posting some information for our teens on how to handle any issues that may arise in the future, prior to the reinstatement of the PM system. The PM system will remain down for one week so that we can ensure that the majority of our regular members have a chance to read this message. We very much appreciate each member of our Ballet Talk for Dancers community. Your understanding is appreciated as well.

This post has been read and approved by all of the Administrators and Moderators on Ballet Talk for Dancers.
Victoria Leigh, Momof3darlings, balletbooster,Mel Johnson, dancemaven, Giannina, Redbookish, vrsfanatic, Clara 76, Danielle DeVor, mom2, Taradriver, dufay, Hans.

Victoria Leigh
Administrator

LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...
...IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN! [Unknown]

In the next to last paragraph, above, it states that PM's will be down for one week. That would mean a week from the time the message was posted. So, they will be reactivated Friday, September 18, between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time.

Victoria Leigh
Administrator

LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...
...IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN! [Unknown]

I'm bumping up this topic from 2009 because it is an important one, and we have many, many new members who may not have read it. Teen members please, if you receive Private Messages from anyone other than an Administrator or a Moderator on Ballet Talk for Dancers, please let one of us know about it. Private Messages are a privilege for full members of this board, but they can very easily be removed if abused.

Victoria Leigh
Administrator

LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...
...IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN! [Unknown]